Mission
MISSION
A power or commission to preach the Gospel. Thus Jesus Christ gave his disciples their mission, when he said, “go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.”
See next article.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
MISSION
An establishment of people zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, who go and preach the Gospel in remote countries, and among infidels. No man possessed of the least degree of feeling or compassion for the human race can deny the necessity and utility of Christian missions. Whoever considers that the major part of the world is enveloped in the grossest darkness, bound with the chains of savage barbarity, and immersed in the awful chaos of brutal ignorance, must, if he be not destitute of every principle of religion and humanity, concur with the design and applaud the principles of those who engage in so benevolent a work. We shall not, however, in this place, enter into a defense of missions, but shall present the reader with a short view of those that have been established. In the sixteenth century, the Romish church particularly exerted herself for the propagation of their religion. The Portuguese and Spaniards pretend to have done mighty exploits in the spread of the Christian faith in Asia, Africa, and America; but, when we consider the superstitions they imposed on some, and the dreadful cruelties they inflicted on others, it more than counterbalances any good that was done.
For a time, the Dominicans, Franciscans, and other religious orders, were very zealous in the conversion of the heathen; but the Jesuits outdid them all in their attempts in the conversion of African, Asian, and American infidels. Xavier spread some hints of the Romish religion through the Portuguese settlements in the East Indies, through most of the Indian continent, and of Ceylon. In 1549 he sailed to Japan, and laid the foundation of a church there, which at one time was said to have consisted of about 600, 000 Christians. After him, others penetrated into china, and founded a church which continued about 170 years. About 1580, others penetrated into Chili and Peru, in South America, and converted the natives. Others bestirred themselves to convert the Greeks, Nestorians, Monophysites, Abyssinians, the Egyptian Copts. “It is, however, ” as one observes, “a matter of doubt whether the disciples of a Xavier, or the converts of a Loyola and Dominic, with their partisans of the Romish church, should be admitted among the number of Christians, or their labours be thought to have contributed to the promotion or to the hindrance of the religion of Christ. Certain it is, that the methods these men pursued tended much more to make disciples to themselves and the pontiffs of Rome, than to form the mind to the reception of evangelical truth.”
With ardent zeal, however, and unwearied industry, these apostles laboured in this work. In 1622 we find the pope established a congregation of cardinals, de propaganda fide, and endowed it with ample revenues, and every thing which could forward the missions was liberaly supplied. In 1627, also, Urban added the college for the propagation of the faith; in which missionaries were taught the languages of the countries to which they were to be sent. France copied the example of Rome, and formed an establishment for the same purposes. The Jesuits claimed the first rank, as due to their zeal, learning, and devotedness to the holy see. The Dominicans, Franciscans, and others, disputed the palm with them. The new world and the Asiatic regions were the chief field of their labours. They penetrated into the uncultivated recesses of America. They visited the untried regions of Siam, Tonquin, and Cochin China. They entered the vast empire of China itself, and numbered millions among their converts. They dared affront the dangers of the tyrannical government of Japan. In India they assumed the garb and austerities of the Brahmins, and boasted on the coasts of Malabar of a thousand converts baptized in one year by a single missionary. Their sufferings however, were very great, and in China and Japan they were exposed to the most dreadful persecutions, and many thousands were cut off, with, at last, a final expulsion from the empires.
In Africa the Capuchins were chiefly employed, though it does not appear that they had any considerable success. And in America their laborious exertions have had but little influence, we fear to promote the real conversion of the native to the truth. In the year 1621, the Dutch opened a church in the city of Batavia, and from hence ministers were sent to Amboyna. At Leyden, ministers and assistants were educated for the purpose of missions under the famous Walxus, and sent into the East, where thousands embraced the Christian religion at Formosa, Columba, Java, Malabar, &c. and though the work declined in some places, yet there are still churches in Ceylon, Sumatra, Amboyna, &c. About 1705, Frederick IV. of Denmark, applied to the university of Halle, in Germany, for missionaries to preach the Gospel on the coast of Malabar, in the East Indies; and Messrs. Ziegenbalg and Plutsche were the first employed on this important mission; to them others were soon added, who laboured with considerable success. It is said that upwards of 18, 000 Gentoos have been brought to the profession of Christianity. A great work has been carried on among the Indian nations in North America. One of the first and most eminent instruments in this work was the excellent Mr. Elliott, commonly called the Indian apostle, who, from the time of his going to New England, in 1631, to his death, in 1690, devoted himself to this great work by his lips and pen, translating the Bible and other books into the native dialect. Some years after this, Thomas Mahew, esq. governor and patentee of the islands of Martha’s Vineyard, and some neighbouring islands, greatly exerted himself in the attempt to convert the Indians in that part of America.
His son John gathered and founded an Indian church, which, after his death, not being able to pay a minister, the old gentleman himself, at seventy years of age, became their instructor for more than twenty years, and his grandson and great grandson both succeeded him in the same work. Mr. D. Brainard was also a truly pious and successful missionary among the Susquehannah and Delaware Indians. His journal contains instances of very extraordinary conversions. But the Moravians have exceeded all in their missionary exertions. They have various missions: and, by their persevering zeal, it is said, upwards of 23, 000 of the most destitute of mankind, in different regions of the earth, have been brought to the knowledge of the truth. Vast numbers in the Danish islands of St. Thomas, St. Jau. and St. Croix, and the English islands, of Jamaica, Antigua, Nevis, Barbadoes, St. Kitts, and Tobago, have by their ministry been called to worship God in spirit and in truth. In the inhospitable climes of Greenland and Labrador they have met with wonderful success, after undergoing the most astonishing dangers and difficulties. The Arrowack Indians, and the negroes of Surimnam and Berbice, have been collected into bodies of faithful people by them. Canada and the United States of North America, have, by their instrumentality, afforded happy evidences of the power of the Gospel.
Even those esteemed the last of human beings, for brutishness and ignorance, the Hottentots, have been formed into their societies; and upwards of seven hundred are said to be worshipping God at Bavian’s Cloof, near the Cape of Good Hope. We might also mention their efforts to illumine the distant East, the coast of Coromandel, and the Nicobar islands; their attempts to penetrate into Abyssinia, to carry the Gospel to Persia and Egypt, and to ascend the mountains of Caucasus. In fact, where shall we find the men who have laboured as these have? Their invincible patience, their well- regulated zeal, their self-denial, their constant prudence, deserve the meed of highest approbation. Nor are they wearied in so honourable a service; for they have numerous missionaries still employed in different parts of the world.
See MORAVIANS. Good has been also done by the Wesleyan Methodists, who are certainly not the least in missionary work. They have several missionaries in the British dominions in America and in the West Indies. They have some thousands of members in their societies in those parts.
See METHODISTS. In 1791, a society was instituted among the Baptists, called, “The particular Baptist Society for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen, ” under the auspices of which missionaries were sent to India, and favourable accounts of their success have been received. We learn, with pleasure, that through their indefatigable industry, the New Testament, and part of the Bible have been translated and printed in the Benegalee; and that parts of the Scriptures have been translated into ten of the languages spoken in the East.
See Periodical Accounts of this society. In the year 1795, The London Missionary Society was formed.
This is not confined to one body of people, but consists of Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Seceders, Methodists, and Independents, who hold an annual meeting in London in May. As the state of this society is before the public, it would be unnecessary here to enlarge; suffice it to say, that it is now on the most permanent and respectable footing. “It has assumed consistency and order; it combines integrity of character, fortitude of mind, and fixedness of resolution, with a continued progression of effort for the exalted purpose of presenting the doctrines of the blessed Gospel to the acceptance of the perishing heathen, and of exhibiting an uncorrupt example of their tendencies and effects in their own characters and conduct.” Besides the above-mentioned societies, others have been formed of less note. In 1699, a society was instituted in England for promoting Christian Knowledge. In 1701, another was formed for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts. In Scotland, about the year 1700, a society was instituted for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. Recently, some clergymen of the established church have formed one among themselves. Societies for spreading the Gospel also have been instituted in various other places. From the whole, it seems evident that the light and knowledge of the glorious Gospel will be more diffused than ever throughout the earth.
And who is there that has any concern for the souls of men, any love for truth and religion, but what must rejoice at the formation, number, and success of those institutions, which have not the mere temporal concerns of men, but their everlasting welfare as their object? My heart overflows with joy, and mine eyes with tears, when I consider the happy and extensive effects which are likely to take place. The untutored mind will receive the peaceful principles of religion and virtue; the savage barbarian will rejoice in the copious blessings, and feel the benign effects of civilization; the ignorant idolater will be directed to offer up his prayers and praises to the true God, and learn the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. The habitations of cruelty will become the abodes of peace and security, while ignorance and superstition shall give way to the celestial blessings of intelligence, purity, and joy. Happy men, who are employed as instruments in this cause: who forego your personal comforts, relinquish your native country, and voluntarily devote yourselves to the most noble and honourable of services! Peace and prosperity be with you! Miller’s History of the Propagation of Christ; Kennett’s ditto; Gillies’s Historical Collection; Carey’s Enquiry respecting Missions; Loskiell’s History of the Moravian Missions; Crantz’s History of Greenland; Horne’s Letters on Missions; Sermons and Reports of the London Missionary Society.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
mission
The simplest territorial organization in the Church. In the popular and narrowest sense, the word “missions” denotes Catholic missions in countries predominantly pagan . On 12 September 1896, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples abolished those prefectures Apostolic in the Orient which did not have definite boundaries, and substituted for them organizations called “Missions.” These were entrusted to certain regular Orders, and ruled by “Superiors” appointed by the generals of those Orders, but subject to the Apostolic delegates of the countries in which the Missions were located. As soon as a Mission is developed sufficiently, it is erected into a prefecture Apostolic.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Mission
is the word used by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and American Ritualists in a sense somewhat synonymous to the word Revival (q.v.). Among Roman Catholics the Mission is a series of special services, conducted generally by propagandists, who do not themselves preside over a parish; they are mostly members of a monastic order. The word Mission in this sense is of recent use. In the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church the word designates a series of services in which prayer, praise, preaching, and personal exhortation are the main features, and is intended to call souls to repentance and faith, and deepen the spiritual life in the faithful. The mission is conducted in a particular parish, or in a number of parishes at once, directed by the rector, or by some priest experienced in such matters, whom he obtains to aid him. Its themes are heaven, hell, the judgment, sin, the atonement for sin, God’s justice, and God’s mercy. The purpose is the proclamation of the old foundations of faith and repentance to souls steeped in worldliness and forgetful of their destiny, whether they be the souls of the baptized or the unbaptized. The usual period of the year for the mission is the season of Lent (q.v.). In England it has been the practice for years. A correspondent of the New York Church Journal (March 12, 1874), after describing the interest awakened by the mission services in the English metropolis (in 1874), says that the bishops, persuaded by the good results of the propriety of the missions, have declined to lay down special rules, and trust to the loyalty of the clergy to conduct the mission in accordance with the rules of the Church, and then adds that the clergy are now too busy with the real work of the mission to discuss the proper pronunciation of Amen,’ the length of surplices, and the color of stoles. In the United States it has as yet found favor with few of the Protestant Episcopal churches. A serious obstacle is the Liturgy. In the mission the largest spontaneity and freedom are allowed. Prayers are extemporaneous. The preaching is pungent and personal. The singing is participated in by the whole congregation, and familiar hymns and tunes are selected. The tendency is towards a general introduction of the mission into all Protestant Episcopal churches. The Church Journal and Gospel Messenger of December 25, 1873, made a special plea in its behalf, and the Reverend B.P. Morgan has published a book to enlist his Church in revival work. SEE RETREAT. (J.H.W.)
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
MISSION
God has entrusted to his people the task, or mission, of spreading the message of his salvation to the world. The people who carry out this mission are therefore called missionaries. The present article uses the words mission and missionary in this broad sense, and not as technical names for specific organizations or people who work full time in church-sponsored activities in foreign countries.
Mission is necessary because sin has cut people off from the life of God and left them in the power of Satan (Gen 3:24; Rom 1:21-25; Joh 3:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1Jn 5:19). God, however, has made a way of salvation (and it is the only way; Joh 3:16; Joh 14:6; Act 4:12; Rom 5:17), but if the people of the world are to receive this salvation, Gods people must first of all tell them about it (Rom 10:13-15; 2Co 5:18-19).
The Bible records the development of Gods plan for the salvation of people worldwide. God chose one man (Abraham) to father one particular nation (Israel) through whom Gods blessing would go to all nations. Israel was to be Gods representative in bringing the nations of the world to know him (Gen 12:2-3; Gen 22:18; Exo 19:5-6; Isa 49:6; Zec 8:22-23). Although Israel as a whole failed to carry out its task, out of it came one person, Jesus Christ, who was the Saviour of the world (Luk 2:10-11; Gal 3:16). He built a new people of God, the Christian church, to whom he entrusted the mission of taking the message of his salvation to people everywhere (Mat 28:19-20; Act 1:8; Act 13:47).
Jesus and world mission
Israel failed to be Gods light to the nations, partly because the people were so self-satisfied in their status as Gods chosen people that they had no concern for others. They considered themselves assured of Gods blessing, and the Gentile nations assured of his judgment; but in this they deceived themselves (Jon 4:2; Jon 4:11; Mat 3:9; Rom 2:25-29; Rom 3:29; Rom 9:6-7; Rom 9:15).
Despite Israels failure, it was still the nation God chose and prepared to produce the worlds Saviour. Jesus therefore announced his salvation to Israel before spreading the message farther afield among the Gentiles (Mat 15:24; cf. Mat 4:23; Mat 13:54). He instructed the twelve apostles to do likewise (Mat 10:5-6). (For the mission of the twelve during the lifetime of Jesus see APOSTLE.) Even Paul, who was not one of the original twelve, believed he had an obligation to preach to the Jews first (Act 13:46; Act 18:6; Rom 1:16).
Jesus had always anticipated a wider mission to the Gentiles (Mat 8:11-12; Mat 21:43; Mat 28:19; Joh 10:16; Joh 20:21). He told his disciples, and through them the church, to look upon the initial work in Palestine as the foundation for a wider reaching work into the Gentile world (Luk 24:46-47; Act 1:8). He encouraged a sense of urgency in this mission by saying that he would return and bring in the new age only after his followers had preached the gospel worldwide (Mat 24:14).
Planting churches in new areas
The New Testament record of the expansion of the early church shows the sort of work the church must be prepared for if it is to fulfil its mission. Of first importance is the personal life and testimony of the Christians themselves. Through their witness the gospel spreads (Act 8:4-6; Act 11:19-21; Col 1:7). But God wants more than to save people. He wants to see them baptized, made disciples of Jesus, instructed in Christian teaching and built into local churches (Mat 28:19-20; Joh 17:20-21; Act 1:8; Act 2:41-47; Act 11:26; Col 1:25; Col 1:28; see BAPTISM; DISCIPLE; TEACHER).
Although all Christians should bear witness to Jesus, God chooses and equips certain people for the specific task of breaking into unevangelized areas with the gospel (Act 9:15; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 15:20; 2Co 10:16; Gal 1:16; see EVANGELIST). As a church recognizes such gifted people, it may send them out to devote their whole time to preaching the gospel, making disciples and planting churches. In doing so, the home church becomes a partner with its missionaries in the gospel (Act 13:1-4; Act 14:27; Act 16:1-2; Act 18:22-23; cf. Php 1:5).
Paul was a missionary sent by a church into unevangelized areas, and his example shows that missionaries must have plans and goals. Like Paul, they may make no attempt to preach in every town and village, but concentrate on planting churches in the main population centres (Act 13:14; Acts 14; Acts 1; Acts 8; Acts 20; Act 16:12; Act 18:1; Act 19:1). These churches then have the responsibility to spread the gospel into the surrounding regions, though they will do so effectively only if they themselves are spiritually healthy (Act 13:49; Act 19:8-10; 1Th 1:8).
Whatever the strategy, the missionaries must also be flexible. They must be sensitive to Gods will in changing situations, and be prepared to alter their plans if God so directs (Act 16:6-10; Act 18:21; 1Co 16:7-9; 1Co 16:12).
Adapting to different situations
There is only one gospel, but its presentation may be adapted to the background and needs of different audiences. Pauls preaching in the Jewish synagogues differed from his preaching to non-Jewish idolaters (Act 13:14-41; Act 14:11-17; Act 17:22-31). Nevertheless, it is often the case that those who appear ready-made to accept the gospel refuse it (e.g. Jews who already knew the Bible; Act 13:45; Act 14:1-2; Act 17:1-5; Act 17:13), and the most unlikely people accept it (e.g. idolaters, robbers, adulterers and perverts; Act 19:18-20; Act 19:26; 1Co 6:9-11).
Christianity must not be identified with one level of society or one race. There should not therefore be an emphasis on one class of people to the neglect of the rest (Act 16:14; Act 17:4; Act 17:12; Act 18:3; Act 18:7-8; 1Co 1:26; 2Co 8:1-2; Eph 2:14-15; 1Ti 6:1-2; 1Ti 6:17). Nor should there be an emphasis on one sort of proclamation to the neglect of the rest (1Co 9:22). Missionaries may make the gospel known through preaching, discussion, debating or teaching; they may use religious buildings, public places or private homes; they may deal with mass audiences, small groups or individual enquirers (Act 2:40-41; Act 5:25; Act 6:9-10; Act 8:27-29; Act 11:12; Act 14:1; Act 16:13; Act 16:32; Act 17:19; Act 20:22; Act 21:39-40; Act 28:17).
The time that missionaries spends in one centre may vary from a few weeks to a few years (Act 17:2; Act 18:11; Act 20:31). Patience is necessary, but that does not mean that they must remain indefinitely in one place preaching the gospel to unresponsive people, when people in other places have not yet heard (Mat 10:11-14; Act 13:51; Act 17:13-14; Act 19:8-9).
Independence of new churches
To avoid making a church dependent on them, those who plants the church should be careful about starting programs that can only operate if they are there permanently (Act 18:20; Act 20:38; 1Co 2:5). They should concentrate on making the Christians true disciples who can carry on the work of Christ, both in helping the church and in reaching out to the lost (Mat 28:19; Eph 4:11-13). In particular they should train those who show signs of being gifted for the more important ministries of the church (2Ti 2:2; see GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT).
Having taught people to trust in the Lord, missionaries must show that they also trust in the Lord, by leaving the new believers to learn by experience how to live as Christs people (Act 14:23; Act 20:32). If the believers have been built up in the knowledge of God and his Word (Act 11:26; Act 20:27), they will be able to maintain their Christian commitment after the missionaries have gone. They should even be able to spread the gospel into the surrounding regions (Act 13:49; Act 13:52; Act 19:10; 1Th 1:8-10).
Though the founders of the church may leave it, they do not abandon it. Through letters, visits and periods of temporary residence they can help it to grow (Act 15:36; Act 20:2-3; 1Co 5:9; 1Co 7:1; 1Co 16:5; 1Co 16:12).
Each church, if it is to stand by itself, must also be able to govern itself. God has provided for the leadership of local churches through giving certain people the necessary abilities to be elders. The founders of the church have the responsibility to appoint such leaders in the church (Act 14:23; Act 20:17; Tit 1:5; see ELDER). (Concerning Pauls exercise of authority in the churches he established, see APOSTLE.)
People in different churches will pray, sing, teach and worship in a variety of ways, depending on their background and culture. When missionaries plant churches in cultures different from their own, they must not impose their culture upon the new Christians, but encourage them to find suitable ways of expressing their newfound faith (cf. 1Co 16:20; Col 3:16-17).
Christianity can function in any age and in any culture. The New Testament is not a book of rules giving instructions on the practical details of church procedures, but a collection of stories and letters providing guidance for a Spirit-directed people (Act 20:28; 1Co 2:12-13; 1Co 6:5; 1Co 7:6; 1Co 7:40; Php 1:9). Flexibility will enable missionaries to change patterns of activity to meet the needs of different kinds of people (Act 15:10; 1Co 9:20-23; Gal 2:12-14). (For the principles of church life that should guide those who establish new churches see CHURCH.)
When establishing churches in new areas, missionary may choose not to accept financial support from the local people, to avoid being a burden or creating misunderstanding (1Co 9:12; 2Co 12:14-18). They might choose to do part-time secular work to help support themselves, or receive gifts of money from churches elsewhere (Act 18:3; Act 20:33-34; 2Co 11:7-9; Php 4:15-18; 1Th 2:5; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:7-8).
Evangelism and social concern
Jesus demonstrated true Christian love by helping the poor, the sick, the despised and the victims of injustice. He taught his disciples to do likewise (Mat 8:2-3; Mat 8:6-7; Mat 9:11; Mat 25:34-35; Mar 8:1-2; Mar 12:40; Luk 10:36-37; Jam 5:1-6; 1Jn 3:17).
Following Jesus, the early missionaries saw people not merely as souls to be saved, but as people whose bodies and minds were also in need. They were concerned for the whole person, not just part of the person. They therefore accompanied their preaching with acts of compassion, and taught the newly founded churches the social responsibilities that the gospel placed upon them (Act 5:12; Act 9:34; Act 16:16-18; Rom 13:8-10; Gal 2:10; Gal 6:10; 1Ti 5:3-5; 1Ti 6:18; Jam 1:27).
Like Jesus, however, the early missionaries did not carry out their practical ministries or use their miraculous powers as a method of evangelism. They did not do good deeds for people merely to try to convert them. They did good deeds because they had a Christian duty to do so, whether or not the people were Christians or even likely to become Christians (Act 3:6; Act 5:15-16; Act 19:11-12; Act 28:8-9; Jam 2:15-16; see GOOD WORKS; MIRACLES).
As Christians carry on the mission that Jesus started, they show people the sort of world that God wants. They work towards the goal that God has for the removal of all the effects of sin, not only in individuals and human society but also in the world of nature (Rom 8:19-23; Rev 21:4; Rev 22:1-2; see JUSTICE; NATURE).
But the root of the worlds problems is sin, and the basic task of the churchs mission is to make known the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is Gods provision to deal with sin. As people respond to that gospel, they come into a right relationship with God, and then set about producing character and behaviour that is in keeping with their Christian faith (Mat 28:19-20; Luk 24:47; Act 1:8; Rom 1:16; Rom 15:20; Tit 3:8).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Mission
MISSION.The following article deals with the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ only as presented in the Gospel narratives. The Lord Jesus frequently manifested consciousness of being commissioned by God. Now the general () and now the specific term () for sending is used in reference to His work, the latter word signifying an intimate connexion between sender and sent (Cremer, p. 529). As Gods trusted messenger He felt that there was a decree () for Him to execute (Luk 2:49; Luk 4:43; Luk 9:22 etc.), that He had His Fathers authority (Joh 5:43; Joh 8:42), and that as the Father had sanctified Him and sent Him into the world (Joh 10:36), it was not for Him to do His own pleasure (Joh 6:38). The Fourth Evangelist, deeply impressed with the idea of the commission received by his Lord, mentions the fact repeatedly, and in one place stops to brood over the mere name of a place because it suggests a mission (Joh 9:7). Instead of considering Himself as being merely one among a number of Divine messengers, Jesus knew Himself to be the Messenger-Son (Mar 12:6-7). The Lords consciousness refers to (1) the objects of His mission, (2) the means to be adopted to gain His wondrous ends, (3) the extent, and (4) the credentials of His mission.
1. The objects of the mission.These are exhibited in various forms. Prophecy has to be fulfilled (Mar 12:10-11; Mar 14:21; Mar 14:27; Mar 14:49, Luk 4:21; Luk 10:24; Luk 24:27, Joh 5:46; Joh 13:18). It is the function of Jesus to be the King (Psalms 2), the Son of Man (Psalms 8, Dan 7:13-14), the Servant of Jehovah (Isaiah 42, 53), the founder a New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34); and thus to glorify God (Joh 12:28; Joh 17:4) and save men (Mat 1:21, Luk 2:11; Luk 19:10, Joh 3:17; Joh 10:10; Joh 12:47; Joh 17:2; Joh 20:31) by attracting men to Himself (Mat 11:28, Joh 5:40; Joh 12:32) and by giving Himself as a sacrifice (Mar 10:45, Joh 1:29; Joh 6:51; Joh 10:15; Joh 12:24).
2. Means to the ends of the mission.The nature of these aims required that the Heavenly Apostle (Heb 3:1) should manifest the Kingdom and the character of God, together with the greatness of mans calling. The sacrificial death at Calvary sums up all the revelations. The speech, the life, the death of the Lord Jesus are the means whereby He discharges His unique mission to mankind.
(a) To succeed, it was imperative that Jesus should ensure the recognition of the sovereignty of God. The Kingdom of God must be established upon the earth (Mat 4:17, Luk 19:11 ff.). Where there are minds that gladly defer to Gods will, there the Kingdom is. Submission may be incomplete (Mat 13:24-30; Mat 13:47-48) and transient (Mat 13:20-22). In Jesus alone were the claims of God fully and constantly heeded: therefore the leadership of men is His prerogative (Mat 23:10). He called men to Himself in order to make them loyal to the heavenly throne. Gods subjects renounce evil habits (Mat 4:17), enjoy pardon (Luk 24:47), possess sincerity (Mat 7:21-27), are plastic and trustful as children (Mat 18:2-4, Luk 18:16-17, Joh 3:3), are willing to render costly service in meekness (Mat 20:25-28); they transcend national distinctions (Mat 8:11) and set all interests below those of the Kingdom (Mat 6:33; Mat 13:45-46, Luk 9:57-62; Luk 18:29-30). The presence of the Kingdom is known by its conquering power (Luk 11:20). Its growth cannot be accounted for unless the activities of God are adduced; albeit mans cooperation is required (Mar 4:26-29). A river (as the Nile) may not originate in the land that it waters, and yet may be indispensable thereto; similarly Christs Kingdom is the blessing the world needs most, and its coining must be uppermost in prayerful minds (Mat 6:9-10), yet it takes its rise in the unseen heaven (Joh 18:36). Diseases, defects, excreseences of all kindsphysical, mental, spiritualare foreign elements (Mat 13:27-28, Luk 13:16). It was the function of the Lord Jesus to reveal verbally and in His life the nature of Gods reign. His loving and unswerving devotion to the Fathers will is the central orb of the moral world, and all human wills should be planets ruled and lighted by His filial homage. Union with Him, harmony with Him, would bring about union and harmony among the races of mankind, and earth according to the great prayers (Mat 6:9-10, Joh 17:20-21), would be a province of heaven. In all its particularsits purity, might, obedience, joyful loyalty, friendliness, prayerfulness, catholicitythe Kingdom of God is the life of Christ expanded. It was His task to give mankind, on the scale of His earthly experience, a clear and distinct conception of subjection to the authority of God. The Kingdom is where He is; it is He working through the wills, intellects, affections of His people. The laws of the Kingdom are those to which Christ conformed His purposes and deeds. The Beatitudes (Mat 5:1-12) are songs that first were sung in His own heart. Hence a description of the Kingdom is a description of the character of Jesus from the point of view belonging to duty and common service. If the precepts of the gospelwhich were indeed citations from His own hook of life as child, friend, artizan, preacher, sacrificewere heeded in home and Church and State, we should see the Kingdom of God an organism with Christ as its soul, devout, righteous, beneficent.
(b) He to whom the human will ought to be surrendered must he known to be supremely worthy of reverence, trust, and love. Inasmuch, then, as knowledge of God is essential to eternal life, it was one of the aims of Christ to impart this knowledge (Joh 17:3). God had often been represented as the Father of the Chosen People, and here and there individuals had thought themselves to be sons of God; but in the teachings of Jesus the Divine Fatherhood is asserted and illustrated so copiously, that some chapters of the Gospels consist almost solely of variations to the music of these good tidings (Matthew 5, 6, 7). Jesus made men think of God trustfully as well as reverently, with love as well as with awe. The revelation could be made only by the Son of God (Mat 11:27, Luk 10:22), and it was contained in Himself (Joh 1:18; Joh 14:7-10). The love and obedience of the Son have as their counterparts the Fathers love and instructions; and so the paternal and the filial dispositions are mutually illuminating. The purposes of the Father are executed by the Son, and therefore to come to Jesus, to receive and honour Him, are acts that reach to God (Luk 9:48, Joh 5:22-23; Joh 13:20). The message is the Messenger. Not merely does a veil fall from before the Divine character; for Jesus, standing where the veil had stood, manifests the eternal righteousness and pitying love that cannot be content unless men are rescued from unrighteousness and wrath. Salvation is mans progressive advance (Joh 17:3 ) to God, his growing communion with the Father, his increasing faith, love, and reverence. The Saviour invites men to come by penitence and trust to Himself, that they may become one with Him and, through Him, with the Father (Mat 11:28, Joh 17:21). whose holiness He discloses.
(c) The fulfilment of Christs mission required the revelation of man. What is the moral condition of men? What is man in Gods idea? What can make mans sin to be seen and hated? What can make Gods thought and purpose concerning man attractive to sinners? Inasmuch as penitence, faith, hope, love are essential elements of a true life, to create them was included in Christs gracious task. To produce the consciousness of guilt was an indispensable preliminary. His speech made sin exceeding sinful, and in His conduct there were presented such contrasts to mans misdoings that the evils were exposed. A sense of sin actually was produced (Luk 5:8; Luk 7:37 ff; Luk 19:7-8), and men learned to trust Gods Son and to desire to be taught His life (Luk 11:1). He encouraged men to hope that His experience of pleasing the Father (Joh 8:29) might become theirs, seeing that they could become as intimately related to Him as the branches are related to the vine (Joh 15:1-8). The appearance of the Son of Man was a gospel, because, while it condemned sin, it affirmed moral evil to be an intrusion into mans nature, and it invited the sinful to receive forgiveness and enter into union with that victorious life which from the first had overcome the world (Mat 4:1-11, Joh 8:29; Joh 16:33; Joh 17:4). Corrupted man rejected and killed the Holy One, thereby disclosing human guilt and need; man, as God intended him to be, and as he may become by believing in him (Joh 2:11; Joh 3:16), is revealed in Christs meekness, devoutness, filial obedience and fraternal service. The Son of God gives men authority to become Gods sons (Joh 1:12-13), thereby causing men fully to unfold their manhood.
(d) The mission of the Saviour involved His death.His death was a chief part of His work. The Evangelists record sayings which prove that the great sacrifice was present to our Lords mind at an early stage of His ministry, so that there is no need to regard the explicit references to the death by violence made near Caesarea Philippi (Mar 8:31 ff.) as indicating a new outlook to the Lords own mind. The tragic note that is heard early in the Fourth Gospel (Joh 2:19-21; Joh 3:14-15; Joh 6:51) is not left to the last in the Synoptic accounts (Mat 9:15, Mar 2:19-20, Luk 5:34-35). Moreover, the saving purpose of the sacrifice (Mat 26:28, Mar 10:45; Mar 14:24, Joh 10:11; Joh 12:23-24; Joh 12:32-33), its necessity ( Mar 8:31, Luk 24:26), and its voluntary character (Mat 26:53, Joh 10:18), are affirmed. Through death to life is illustrated in His experience. The enjoyment by Him of a fuller life in countless redeemed ones is conditional upon His uttermost self-renunciation (Joh 12:24). The life of the Saviour passes to men through His surrender, and it enters into them so far as they adopt its principle. The way of sacrifiee is thus the way whereby the Saviour gives and the saved receive (Mat 16:24-25). The New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34) is connected with the shedding of the Lords blood (Luk 22:20), and it is necessary that the saved should participate in this fundamental law of Christs being (Joh 6:53-57). It was the Sons gracious will to come to earth on an errand which meant exposure to temptation (and therefore exposure to the possibility that He might not return to heaven) in order to destroy sin and to allure mankind to the paths of rectitude and peace. It was not the purpose of the Lord to ascend to God unless He could do so as the head of a new race,a race healed (Joh 3:14-15), vivified and nourished by His sacrificial offering (Joh 6:51-58). This death, with its victory over death, and its sequelthe return to the Fatherwere intended to provide, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, those saving resources whereby the true life is initiated (Joh 16:7-11) and sustained (Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26, Joh 15:26, Joh 16:13-15).
3. The extent of Christs mission.While the regeneration of men was His first concern, His numerous miracles evince His care for mans physical needs. As all departments of life were to be purified and enriched by His example and teaching, so all men were to feel that they could be saved by His grace. It has been supposed that Jesus had no outlook beyond the Chosen People, and that the universalism of the Gospels is an interpolation; the catholicity which the Church subsequently manifested being read back into the teachings of the Lord. This conjecture is applied to the Fourth Gospel, to the world-wide commission (Mat 28:18-20, Mar 16:15), and to the universalism of St. Luke. True it is that at first the area of labour was restricted (Mat 15:24), but this was a necessity of the situation, and is no indication that the Gentiles were to be excluded from salvation. Sin is not local or racial, and Jesus hated it; and man, as man, was loved by Him. Any devout Jew would think that somehow the Gentiles were to reap advantage from the Messianic reign (Luk 2:30-32), and though it was deemed absurd to suppose that preference could be given by the Messiah to heathen men (Joh 7:35), even the Pharisees were zealous in making proselytes (Mat 23:15). Why should it be thought incredible that Jesus hoped ultimately to win men of all nations? Was not exclusiveness distressing to Him? Was He not ready with a reference to mercies granted to the woman of Zarephath and to Naaman the Syrian (Luk 4:25-27)? The outer court of the Temple was the only part of the sacred structure to which a Gentile had access, and all the Evangelists report that Jesus insisted that this enclosure should be kept clean and quiet for all the nations (Mat 21:12-13, Mar 11:15-17, Luk 19:45-46, Joh 2:14; Joh 2:16). Jesus rejoiced in the centurions faithnot found by Him in Israel (Luk 7:9), and the Syrophnician woman cheered His heart by her trust and loving ingenuity (Mat 15:28). At first the disciples were forbidden to preach to Samaritans (Mat 10:5), though, when they were fully equipped, the restriction was withdrawn (Act 1:8): He Himself laboured in Samaria (Luk 9:51-56, John 4), and called attention to the beneficence of one Samaritan (Luk 10:33-35), and to the faith and gratitude of another (Luk 17:15-19). It is quite in harmony with the Saviours love for the outcast and despised, the publicans and sinners amongst the Jews (Mat 9:9-13, Luk 7:37-50; Luk 15:1-2 ff., Luk 18:9-14; Luk 19:1-10), that He should foresee the approach of all men to Himself (Joh 12:32), and anticipate a time when He should be the Shepherd of one flock consisting of sheep gathered from far and near (Joh 10:16). The interest manifested by the Magi (Matthew 2) and by the Greeks (Joh 12:20-21) is not alien to Christs mission. Moreover it is clearly declared that strangers will become workers in the vineyard (Mat 21:41), and that before His throne all nations are to be assembled for judgment (Mat 25:31-32). The Saviour of the world (Joh 4:42) has grace and power wherewith to meet the needs which belong to every man in every age and country; for He is the Light (Joh 1:9, Joh 8:12, Joh 9:5, Joh 12:46), the Water (Joh 4:10, Joh 7:37), the Bread (Joh 6:35; Joh 6:48-51), the Life (Joh 11:25, Joh 14:6).
4. Credentials of the mission.Jesus entered upon His task with the confidence that He was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Luk 4:18). John the Baptist declared that he saw the Spirit descending upon Jesus, and that he had been prepared for this sign (Joh 1:33-34). The testimony thus borne by the last of the Old Covenant prophets is referred to by the Saviour together with other credentials,as the witness of His works, that of the Father and that of the Scriptures (Joh 5:32-47). Messengers came from the Machaerus prison, saying, John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? In that hour Jesus wrought miracles which He adduced, together with His habit of announcing good tidings to the poor, as proofs of His Messiahship (Luk 7:18-22). The deeds were signs () that the Divine messenger could quicken body and soul (Mar 5:41-42, Luk 7:14-15, Joh 11:25; Joh 11:43-44); cure physical and spiritual diseases; render efficient withered powers (Mar 3:1-5, Joh 5:5-9); add faculties, contrary to what might be expected, as in the case of the man born blind (John 9); redress evils caused by circumstancesfor instance the fever due to the Capernaum district(Luk 4:38-39); cleanse all the fountains of life, as in cures wrought for lepers (Mar 1:40-42, Luk 17:12-14); bestow abilities, receptive (Mar 8:22-25) and communicative (Mat 9:32-33). While the miracles were wrought in pure kindness, they afforded evidences to the thoughtful of the validity of Christs claims (Joh 3:2; Joh 7:31; Joh 10:37-38; Joh 14:11; Joh 15:24), and they were intended by the Lord to give assurance to men of His redeeming grace (Mar 2:10-11). The very term employed for saving processes () will serve equally for temporal and spiritual blessings (Mat 1:21, Mar 10:26, Luk 7:50, Joh 3:17), even as the Worker shows Himself in reference both to the inner and the outer life to be the Great Physician (Mar 2:17). Some persons were allowed to have extraordinary aid to the belief that Jesus came from God, for they were with Him when He was transfigured, and heard a voice saying, This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him (Luk 9:35); nevertheless there was adequate support for the faith of all men in the remarkable interest Jesus took in the neglected (Luk 7:22-23; Luk 15:1 ff.), in His readiness to pray (Joh 17:1) and to serve (Mar 6:34, cf. v. 31), and in the union of qualities of character which are rarely found together. The credentials of Christs mission are in Himself. The grandeur and simplicity of His life, the meek and beneficent use of marvellous powers, the sinless Ones friendship with sinners, the strength and gentleness, the zeal and patience, the ardour and purity of His characterprove that He came forth from the Father (Joh 6:68-69; Joh 16:27). Believers in Him discover with more and more clearness, as they trust Him more and more fully, that His gracious promises are fulfilled. He is to their consciences the Goodness,to their intellects the Truth,to their hearts the supreme Beauty, the Way, the Truth, the Life.
Literature.Cremer, Lex. s.v. ; Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, ii. 184 ff.
W. J. Henderson.